3ABN On the Road

Resisting Temptation

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Doug Batchelor

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Series Code: OTR

Program Code: OTR000399


01:29 My hope is built on nothing less
01:36 Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
01:45 No merit of my own I claim
01:51 But wholly lean on Jesus' name
01:59 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand
02:05 All other ground is sinking sand
02:19 When darkness veils his lovely face
02:25 I rest on his unchanging grace
02:31 In every high and story gale
02:38 My anchor holds within the veil
02:44 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand
02:50 All other ground is sinking sand
03:04 His oath, his covenant, his blood
03:10 Sustain me in the raging flood
03:16 When all supports are washed away
03:23 He then is all my hope and stay
03:30 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand
03:37 All other ground is sinking sand
04:14 When he shall come with trumpet sound
04:21 Oh, may I then in him be found
04:28 Clothed in his righteousness alone
04:34 Redeemed to stand before the throne
04:41 On Christ, the solid rock, I stand
04:47 All other ground is sinking sand
05:06 Amen. Amen.
05:18 The Bible predicted a time, a time like ours
05:22 when the world would be
05:23 plummeting toward its final destiny.
05:26 Nature thrown out of her course, some of the worst fires
05:30 and natural disasters ever recorded in history
05:33 with violence and crimes spreading
05:35 like a cancer in the big cities.
05:38 And the passions of men spilling over into the global conflicts
05:41 that seem to involve every nation on earth.
05:44 Now, it's the time to broadcast, to witness,
05:49 to train, to evangelize.
05:57 In 2002, Pastor Doug Batchelor presented
06:00 Visions for Life in Cameroon, Central Africa.
06:04 His 24 night series was held in the city of Yaoundé.
06:08 The program was broadcasted in 24 languages
06:11 and reached more than 30 countries.
06:14 Five thousand people were baptized in Cameroon alone.
06:17 There were 1,600 downlink sites on the continent of Africa
06:21 and many countries participated
06:23 in the 'Visions for Life' satellite evangelistic effort.
06:27 So in these seminars, we're presenting Jesus.
06:30 We're talking about Jesus as the resurrection in the life.
06:32 Jesus as the Savior of your will.
06:34 Jesus as the theme of Bible prophecy.
06:37 Jesus as the soon coming king.
06:40 Jesus as our a mediator between us and God.
06:44 People are meeting Jesus.
06:45 People are becoming one with Jesus.
06:46 They're being changed by Jesus.
06:50 That's gonna continue to happen as long as
06:52 we have breath to proclaim His message.
06:54 Ah, I will tell you about a friend of mine name Tim.
06:58 Ah, he learned some things from the Bible,
07:01 he started watching some television programming
07:04 and he started watching Doug Batchelor
07:06 in the Millennium of Prophecy.
07:09 He woke up one Saturday morning and he said,
07:14 okay, I know it's the Sabbath, I'm going to church today.
07:18 Now, you understand that as when I prayed this prayer,
07:22 I don't have a clue where a Sabbath keeping church is
07:25 and I'm in Sacramento.
07:27 I'm, you know, as I was going I said,
07:28 Lord, I'm going to church
07:30 and You're going to just have to direct me where to go.
07:34 I noticed a neighbor was backing out of their driveway.
07:41 A man and his wife and they were dressed in nice clothes.
07:45 Now I don't know where they're going,
07:48 but I was impressed to follow them.
07:51 So I mean this is like a ten mile trip
07:55 and I'm going, you know where are this people going,
07:58 they were a long ways from my house now.
08:01 They pulled half of the freeway
08:02 and into a school parking lot.
08:07 And I felt impressed to keep following them.
08:10 So I got out of my car, they went into there,
08:14 school there and went into a auditorium
08:16 and I was right behind them.
08:17 And lo and behold, when I walked into the auditorium,
08:20 there was a Seventh-day Adventist Church meeting
08:22 in the school auditorium.
08:24 So it was a very first time
08:27 that I had ever attended church on Sabbath.
08:32 Amazing Facts,
08:33 employees 12 evangelists like John Bradshaw.
08:36 Their combined efforts last year brought in 15,000 souls.
08:40 The Amazing Facts has over 65,000 people
08:44 enrolled in the Bible school.
08:46 All of the materials used for the Bible school
08:49 are made available free to the thousands
08:51 seeking to understand God's word.
08:55 More than 110,000 people visit
08:57 Amazing Facts websites each month.
09:00 The website provide a vast resource
09:03 for the searching heart.
09:07 Go as because I wanted to
09:09 know the Bible better and I had this desire to,
09:13 wanna share my faith with people,
09:14 but I didn't know how?
09:15 I wanted to know the how.
09:17 AFCO was an incredible experience.
09:20 I learned how to deal with, how to work with people,
09:24 how to share my faith,
09:25 how to be able to reach the heart
09:27 and it was an experience that just completely
09:29 changed my own life.
09:31 The teachers at AFCO are wonderful.
09:34 They're funny, they're down to earth
09:36 but they're, I mean they're spiritual,
09:39 very, very spiritual people.
09:41 Amazing Facts College of Evangelism
09:44 or AFCO offers a four months, a two week condensed program,
09:48 a one month introductory Bible worker program
09:51 and a six week youth in action literature evangelism course.
09:59 It's interesting because my husband and I
10:01 are always, you know, asking the Lord
10:03 to show us ways to, to witness to people.
10:07 I was introduced to Amazing Facts by Kimberly.
10:10 She came through, I work at Ballard
10:12 and she had come to my line
10:15 and I noticed that she ate very well.
10:18 She grabbed some of my eggplant
10:20 and holds it up and says how do you cook this?
10:23 And I said well, since I'm vegetarian
10:25 this is the way I do it.
10:26 And she immediately says,
10:29 oh my word, I've been wanting to learn how to cook vegetarian.
10:32 It was interesting from the very beginning,
10:34 Shawna was like,
10:35 well,I don't know if I believe in God.
10:37 It's a personal being that loves me
10:38 that I just have such a different perspective,
10:41 it's like, it just bring tears in my eyes,
10:43 I know that there is God up there
10:46 who loves each and everyone of us,
10:47 He wants to save us.
10:48 So we really found we needed some tools
10:51 and the Millennium of Prophecy video site from Amazing Facts,
10:56 was an excellent tool in guiding Shawna and David.
10:59 And actually I'm, my husband and I
11:01 are getting baptized next week, next Saturday.
11:05 We're so excited like I never went.
11:13 It's about 23 years, abusing, drugs, alcohol, cigarettes,
11:18 and about anything I could put into my body, I abused.
11:22 Ah, well, I was a drug addict for 25 years
11:26 and I found myself in three time felon back in jail
11:29 again with weapons charges
11:31 and facing state prison time and ended up that,
11:37 the last time I went into prison,
11:38 I realized that if I didn't stop using,
11:41 I was gonna die.
11:43 And we were clean and sober
11:45 and we had a little 19 inch or 13 inch T.V.
11:48 with rabbit ears, soon he started
11:49 flipping the channels and lo and behold,
11:51 channel 27 came on
11:53 and it was Pastor Doug Batchelor.
11:55 We're having trouble understanding the Bible
11:57 because everything was hard to read
11:59 and the words were hard to pronounce
12:01 but we'd have a question we turned the T.V. on
12:04 that night and he would answer the question
12:06 whether it would be on Sabbath or tithing
12:08 or State of the Dead and we knew that it was the truth.
12:12 We knew that he was speaking from the Bible,
12:13 and the Bible only.
12:14 And one day I walked into Taco Bell
12:17 and there was Pastor Doug
12:19 and so I walked up to him and I asked him
12:21 if he was the man on T.V. and he said yes he was
12:23 and so I told him a little about our testimony.
12:26 And he ran out to his car and he got a book
12:29 and invited us to church.
12:31 And it was Pastor Doug, he said, how you guys are doing?
12:33 And I said Pastor Doug, I just quit smoking.
12:35 So we know it's time to get baptized.
12:37 Millions of viewers like Rich and Susan have the opportunity
12:40 to hear the word of God, pure, simple and Christ centered.
12:44 The Millennium of Prophecy series is broadcast
12:47 on 12 networks in the U.S., Asia,
12:49 the Middle East and Russia and 210 T.V. stations in the U.S.
12:55 Every Sunday evening, Pastor Doug Batchelor presents
12:59 Bible answers live, a nationwide call in program.
13:03 Over 150 radio stations in the U.S. carry the program,
13:07 enabling people to learn
13:08 many wonderful truths from God's word.
13:11 Your involvement in this ministry
13:13 will make a difference to people all over the world.
13:16 We solicit your prayers for God's guidance in the future.
13:20 Now, it's the time.
13:28 We introduced Pastor Batchelor,
13:30 Doug Batchelor last night to our camp meeting pulpit
13:34 and we welcome him again this morning.
13:36 May God bless you as the Holy Spirit
13:38 speaks to us through you.
13:48 Thank you. God bless happy Sabbath.
13:53 It's a privilege to be with you and where is Mrs. Batchelor.
14:00 Oh, you got up front, God bless you heart,
14:03 thank you, dear.
14:05 I appreciate that, she usually signals me
14:07 while I'm preaching and when she was way back there,
14:09 I couldn't get my signals.
14:12 The signals are something like, or she is,
14:22 I get this one a lot.
14:26 Am I right?
14:28 So I couldn't see my signals last night.
14:33 You know, I felt impressed just a few minutes ago
14:35 while we're sitting on the platform.
14:37 I've been praying about what to share with you.
14:40 you know, I'm used to doing evangelistic meetings
14:42 where I have 36 opportunities to tell you
14:45 what I wanna tell you
14:46 but when I have these three messages,
14:49 it's very precious and I really pray about
14:51 what to say and I pray God will guide me
14:53 because everyone's needs are different
14:56 and I just wanted to be the most fruitful for you.
15:00 I wanna talk to you very simply this morning about the Gospel.
15:03 And as a catalyst to do that,
15:05 I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles
15:08 to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 10,
15:13 I will be going to verse 25,
15:18 as you're finding your way there,
15:20 I would like to just pray one more time
15:22 if that would be okay.
15:27 Oh, mighty God, during this Holy Sabbath day,
15:31 we now in a very special sense, want to focus our minds
15:37 and tune in to the voice of the Holy Spirit
15:41 speaking through the Holy Bible.
15:43 Lord, I pray that You'll speak to our hearts.
15:45 We're here now, are watching by virtue of Your providence
15:50 and I ask that there'll be a fruit
15:53 that will be born in our lives as a result of
15:54 what we hear that will help us better reflect Jesus.
15:58 In his name we pray, amen.
16:02 The Gospel of Luke is probably the favorite Gospel
16:06 for me of the four.
16:07 You know, most people if you ask them,
16:09 they would say John is their favorite Gospel.
16:11 Well, I'll ask you, how many of your favorite Gospel is John?
16:14 Gospel of John? Anyone vote for Matthew?
16:18 Lots of Matthew's out there. Mark?
16:22 Mark's fast moving Gospel.
16:23 Luke? Oh, few are with me.
16:26 It's kind of odd that I'm Jewish
16:28 and my favorite Gospel is the one written by the Gentile.
16:30 But I really enjoy the Gospel of Luke
16:33 because it's so precious, there's a number of stories
16:36 you find in Luke, you don't find anywhere else.
16:38 You of course find the story of the lost son, prodigal son.
16:42 You find the story of Zacchaeus and number of other parables
16:46 the Lost Sheep and this another example,
16:49 the parable of the Good Samaritan,
16:50 where would we be without this wonderful story
16:53 that helps us to understand the plan of Salvation.
16:59 Jesus is going through one of his dialogues
17:02 with some of the religious leaders and the lawyers.
17:04 And in verse 25 that tells us
17:06 a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him,
17:10 saying teacher what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
17:15 That's a big question. Can you imagine?
17:20 Just think about it.
17:22 We have the opportunity to live forever.
17:27 Have you ever really thought about that?
17:29 That this life is simply the launching pad for eternity.
17:35 And how you position yourself in this life will determine
17:37 your orbit forever and ever.
17:41 Eternal life or eternal death? Those are our choices.
17:46 He that has the son has life, do you have eternal life?
17:51 Whoever believes in him shall not perish.
17:54 What a wonderful promise, the gift of God is eternal life,
17:57 penalty for sin is death,
17:58 but the gift of God, eternal life.
18:03 Not in a world like this,
18:04 you know, we only think we can relate to is this life,
18:06 but the Bible says you can't imagine what that's like.
18:11 Someone tried to illustrate one time what eternity was like?
18:14 I have heard a lot of creative ideas.
18:16 Imagine a sparrow lands on half a dome in your cemetery,
18:23 that great big granite boulder, mountain, granite mountain
18:27 and he sharpens his beak once every thousand years,
18:30 a sparrow lands on that granite half dome mountain
18:35 sharpens his beak.
18:38 When that mountain has worn away
18:41 from a sparrow sharpening his beak
18:43 once every thousand years, ternity will have just began.
18:49 Isn't that right?
18:51 Because eternity never ends,
18:52 you never get off the starting line.
18:56 Do you want eternal life?
18:59 You know the Bible says it's not like this life,
19:01 at His right hand are pleasures forever more,
19:04 bliss, joy, happiness, no more tears, no more pain.
19:09 You'll able to see like an eagle,
19:14 hear like an elephant, smell like a Basset Hound, right?
19:19 Could be taken two ways. You can't imagine it.
19:24 You know, I think that if we had more assurance
19:28 that we have life we would be better soul winners.
19:32 If we really believe that we're going to live forever
19:36 and be with Jesus in glory, in bliss forever,
19:40 I think we'd be happier.
19:43 But you know Seventh-day Adventists,
19:45 because we have been carefully trained not to say
19:47 I'm saved or rightly so, we think that means
19:51 we cannot have assurance.
19:54 And why we should not brag that we have arrived,
19:57 I think God wants us to have a joy
19:59 and an assurance that He
20:01 that He's began a good work in us will perform it.
20:03 He's the author and the finisher of our faith.
20:06 And if you have faith in God and if you got everlasting life,
20:11 that ought to give you a joy and confidence,
20:13 that's contagious.
20:15 Christians ought to have more zip in their hip
20:18 and pep in their step and spunk in their trunk
20:21 and maybe a little less fanatic in the attic, right?
20:28 And if we've got this joy and this assurance
20:31 and this confidence, it's contagious.
20:35 You know, we'll just be going from one person
20:36 to the next and telling them about
20:38 what the Lord has done for us.
20:41 Its like a man in New York city who had this eye surgery,
20:45 he was virtually blind, he went to an eye doctor
20:47 that not only restored his sight
20:49 but gave him 20-20 after years of being blind,
20:52 having that peeled away.
20:53 Can you imagine what that's like?
20:55 A few years ago, Karen, when I married her,
20:58 she had, well is it 2,200?
21:01 She was blind without her glasses
21:05 and I had these visions that during the time of trouble.
21:08 I'd be leading her through the hills
21:09 if she lost her glasses.
21:14 She went to have this Lasik surgery now,
21:16 just about perfect vision.
21:17 She doesn't wear glasses or contacts anymore
21:19 and now I have got glasses.
21:21 Isn't that, that's not fair, is it?
21:24 So this man goes to the doctor after years of not seeing.
21:28 He has surgery, virtually blind, now he could see,
21:30 he's so excited, he goes and sees
21:32 the doctor every few weeks,
21:33 he takes a stack of business cards,
21:34 he goes through the subway on his way to work,
21:36 he said I always almost blind,
21:37 this doctor gave me my sight, I was always almost blind,
21:40 this doctor gave me back my sight, you got to see him.
21:41 Everybody with glasses, he gives those to.
21:44 Why does he do that?
21:45 He is so happy that he's got his sight,
21:48 he wants everyone else to have it.
21:50 If you have eternal life, you want to tell people,
21:54 Amen. Amen
21:56 Bible tells us in Second Kings Chapter 7 verse 9,
22:01 those lepers found that incredible treasure
22:04 and they began to hoard it and bury it
22:07 and one of them came to his senses
22:08 and he said today is the day of good news
22:10 and we hold our peace.
22:12 If we tarry till the morning light,
22:14 some mischief will come upon us, come now
22:16 that we may go and tell the kings household,
22:18 this is a day of good news.
22:21 All beggars lay out of the gate,
22:22 desiring the crumbs would fall from our table
22:26 while we argue among ourselves.
22:28 Eternal life. What a message.
22:32 But you know ancient is real like modern is real,
22:35 they did not have assurance.
22:39 And so here's a lawyer,
22:40 he spends all his time studying the word
22:41 and he doesn't know how to get eternal life.
22:46 Very basic thing.
22:48 He said Lord what must I do that I have,
22:50 can have eternal life?
22:52 Now what does Jesus say what is written in the law,
22:54 now don't miss that.
22:55 The answer to eternal life is in what is written.
23:00 God has given us the answer.
23:03 If you read what is written, you'll find the answer.
23:06 Christ is the word, Jesus is life
23:08 and He's the bread of life, He's the word made flesh,
23:12 it is written and He's saying to the lawyer
23:14 whose full time occupation is studying the word
23:17 and yet he doesn't know where to get eternal life?
23:20 Few things are more pathetic than a person
23:23 who is full time employed and telling others about Jesus
23:26 and eternal life who himself does not know
23:28 how to get eternal life.
23:32 And this lawyer is asking Jesus and He says
23:36 it's in the word and then He also refers into the law.
23:40 You know there are couple of occasions
23:41 where somebody specifically said to Jesus,
23:44 what must I do that I can have eternal life?
23:46 The rich young ruler came to him
23:47 and he said what is written in law
23:49 What are the commandments?
23:53 Now don't miss this.
23:56 We're saved by grace
23:57 but when we're aved by grace,
23:59 God gives us new hearts and He wants us to obey Him.
24:02 Obedience is not legalism.
24:06 Do not ever be ashamed of telling people
24:09 that God wants us to turn from our sins and obey Him.
24:13 And so He directs him and He says what is written in the law.
24:15 Well, He summarizes the Ten Commandments
24:17 and you know, this is what Jesus did for the rich young ruler.
24:20 He summarized the Ten Commandments,
24:23 and here He summarizes the Ten Commandments
24:25 and He says, you should love the Lord your God,
24:28 I'm in verse 27, with all your heart, with all your soul,
24:30 with all your strength, with all your mind
24:32 and love your neighbor as yourself.
24:34 This is the essence of the great love, the moral quote,
24:37 the Ten Commandments is to love the Lord with all your heart
24:40 and love your neighbor.
24:43 And if you really love God and really love your neighbor,
24:45 you'll be keeping the Ten Commandments.
24:48 You cannot explain to me a rational reason
24:51 why you'd break the Ten Commandments,
24:52 while you really love the Lord with all your heart
24:54 and love your neighbor as yourself.
24:58 And so Jesus said you have answered correctly,
25:00 do this and you'll live.
25:03 Well, that seems too simple,
25:04 He needed to make it more complicated.
25:07 Well, I can understand what it means the love of God,
25:09 but you know, its very hard to tell who our neighbor is.
25:13 And so he fell kind of sheepish when Jesus said
25:15 you have answered your own question.
25:17 So he said well, but who is my neighbor
25:20 Verse 29, and I think it's interesting the Bible,
25:23 it says love your enemies
25:25 and then it says love your neighbors.
25:28 Is that because our neighbors are often our biggest enemies?
25:33 You notice that the children of Israel
25:35 often had more stress and grief from their own family
25:42 than they did from the Pagans around them.
25:44 Who was it that betrayed Joseph? His brothers.
25:48 Who was it that rebelled against David?
25:50 His son. Who tried to kill David?
25:53 King Sol, his king.
25:55 You go through the Bible and you'll find
25:57 that it was the northern kingdom killing the southern kingdom
25:59 that did more damage than the Philistines
26:01 were the Ammonites, or Edomites, or Moabites.
26:05 And we can get distractive fighting among ourselves
26:08 and forget what the real mission is.
26:11 That's what the Bible says, love your enemy
26:13 and then it says love your neighbor,
26:14 your enemy is often your neighbor.
26:20 Who is my neighbor?
26:22 Well, Jesus then illustrates with a parable.
26:24 A certain man will identify in a moment,
26:27 he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho
26:31 and he fell among thieves who stripped him of his clothing,
26:36 wounded him and departed leaving him half dead.
26:41 Now here Christ begins to relate an actual event
26:43 and it's filled with significance, it.
26:45 it's an allegory of salvation.
26:46 This man is going from Jerusalem,
26:48 that's the place of worship, Jerusalem,
26:51 city of peace down to Jericho that was a city
26:54 that was cursed by Joshua.
26:57 He's going from the mountains to the valley,
27:01 from above sea level to below sea level,
27:03 from the city of God, from the church to Vegas,
27:06 that's what it amounts to.
27:09 Jericho was were all- that's where
27:10 Zacchaeus had headquarters, right?
27:13 The chief of the publicans is where all the caravans stopped.
27:16 Ah, there was one perpetual hoot and he going down in Jericho.
27:22 And he's got his back to God,
27:24 maybe he has been raised in the church
27:27 and he's on his way from the place of worship down
27:31 and on his way he falls among thieves.
27:36 The Bible says the devil is a thief and a robber,
27:40 who beat him half to death, strip him,
27:44 one reason they take his clothing
27:46 is because of course clothing is a symbol
27:48 for righteousness in the Bible.
27:50 The devil after he met Adam and Eve,
27:52 he left them naked too, didn't he?
27:56 People used to hide their money in their clothes.
27:59 I have a friend who's a thief in Chihuahua, Mexico.
28:02 He was baptized after that,
28:05 but he said when he robbed people
28:06 he'd also takes their clothes from them
28:08 for a couple of reasons,
28:09 one they were less inclined to chase after him.
28:13 Two, they often hid their money in their clothes.
28:15 Bible times, they did not carry credit cards,
28:18 it was not a cashless society and so you,
28:20 people would sow their money
28:21 in different parts of their clothing,
28:23 so they took their clothes.
28:24 So here's this man, he's laying there virtually naked,
28:27 severely wounded, he cannot help himself
28:30 and he's dying, he's fallen.
28:35 You know the Bible describes
28:37 the condition of man as the fall.
28:39 Adam and Eve fell.
28:43 And so into this situation some players wonder
28:48 and as we read on, it tells us.
28:50 Now by chance,
28:51 I think this is an example of Jesus incorporating humor
28:54 because nothing happens by chance
28:55 with God, the irony of it.
28:59 Now by chance, a certain priest came down the road
29:02 and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
29:09 Now you can't really blame him that much.
29:14 Have you ever gotten to this scene of a crime
29:16 or someone who has just been mugged?
29:19 And you can see that it is just happened.
29:21 instinctively, one of the natural responses is,
29:24 this is a recent crime, the perpetrator is not far away
29:28 which means I could be next.
29:31 And the priest seeing that he looked around,
29:34 he thought I'm going to get out of here,
29:35 I'm going to skid out,
29:38 so he wasn't as concerned
29:39 with his friend's injury as his own welfare.
29:44 He would not risk himself for even
29:46 one of his own church members.
29:47 This is a priest whose job was to shepherd the flock
29:54 and really all he thinks about it, it's his own interest.
29:59 Well, our son Daniel is in the Marines by his choice
30:05 and praise God he was in Iraq
30:07 and he made it safely back from Iraq.
30:10 Couple of weeks ago, we went camping together,
30:13 isn't that terrible?
30:14 He comes back from spending months in the desert of Iraq
30:16 and I take him camping in the desert.
30:19 Ah, dad, you wanna go camping?
30:21 Oh, sure, where are you going?
30:22 We're going off to desert.
30:24 We gonna ride around on four wheelers
30:26 and he's you know, he's a driver
30:27 of one of these six by sixes in Iraq.
30:29 Anyway, you know, he was telling us some stories
30:31 and one of the things if they beat
30:34 into the marines is not only,
30:38 you know, learning how to defend yourself
30:39 and operate your weapons,
30:41 but they, they hammer into the marines a heroic attitude.
30:45 Some of the marines behave as heroes
30:47 not because they're heroes but
30:48 but because they are very thoroughly programmed
30:51 that if your buddy is hurt,
30:52 even if you get killed, you go get him.
30:56 They're trained to sacrifice to save each other.
30:59 They don't even think twice.
31:02 With God, that we all felt that way for our brothers.
31:06 Often Christians will leave the wounded behind
31:09 because we're more concerned about ourselves
31:11 or its inconvenient.
31:13 So the priest, he even changes lanes
31:18 when he passes, barely glances in rear view mirror.
31:22 It could also be, I'm not sure
31:24 it doesn't tell us but you know
31:26 the religious leaders in Jesus day,
31:28 actually believed that bad things happen to bad people
31:33 because they're getting what they deserve.
31:35 And he may have been thinking
31:37 well, I don't want to interfere with providence
31:39 because this man may, he probably did something wrong
31:41 and his Karma's catching up with him
31:43 and if God wants to save him, God will save him.
31:46 But this is the providence of God,
31:48 so he goes on down the road.
31:50 Then the next character comes
31:51 and Jesus goes on to say, likewise a Levite,
31:55 verse 32, when he arrived at the place,
31:58 he came and he looked, he evidently paused,
32:02 but then he passes by on the other side.
32:05 He at least stopped and probably offered a prayer.
32:09 Well, this is terrible? How did this happen?
32:14 You know, I'm ruing the day that I ended up
32:20 in the city of Sacramento because I hate traffic.
32:23 You know, I came from--
32:24 Karen and I was pastoring a church
32:26 with the hundred members in Covelo, population 15.
32:31 You heard of a one horse town,
32:34 Covelo's horse didn't have a saddle,
32:36 little town, people stop in the middle of road
32:39 and visit with each other and just drive around.
32:41 You ever have been in towns like that?
32:44 Then you go to Sacramento, they get 24 hour day
32:46 traffic reports and so often interstate five
32:49 and interstate 80 get clocked and you think
32:51 oh, there's must some accident up there
32:53 and somebody is off the road changing the tyre.
32:56 And everybody slows down and call it
32:58 rubbernecking, you know what I am talking about.
33:00 Everyone slows down, it's like we,
33:02 we offer the salute of sympathy,
33:06 oh, should be glad it's not me,
33:07 so we slow down out of respect.
33:11 We think there's some virtue at looking at somebody
33:14 who's suffering instead of doing anything for them.
33:16 Oh, sorry.
33:19 But we all slow down it's not implied to drive quickly
33:21 by somebody who's broken down.
33:26 You know, I'm really concerned about something
33:29 I have seen happened to me.
33:32 When I first became a Christian, I was very sympathetic
33:36 and empathetic about hitchhikers because see,
33:39 I spent many, many hours, probably days standing
33:44 in the side of the road begging for a ride.
33:48 Anyone out there, done this before.
33:52 No, I'm not telling you to feel bad
33:54 for not picking up hitchhikers
33:56 but I remember making some foolish vows
33:58 where I'd be there eight hours
33:59 and I'd pray for a ride, and I say Lord,
34:01 if you give my ide, I promise if I ever get a car,
34:04 I'll pick up every hitchhiker I see.
34:07 Be careful what you promise.
34:08 Let me just tell you right now.
34:12 But you know, I've tried after I got my first car,
34:14 I'd get to an on ramp on some interstate,
34:16 there'll be 12 people there in Southern California
34:18 asking for a ride, I'd try getting them
34:20 all with their dog in my Volkswagen.
34:22 Well, I mean, I really cared back then
34:25 because I knew how it's felt.
34:26 I empathize with them.
34:29 But then as the Lord blessed, and I got better cars
34:32 I became more discriminating.
34:36 And I started being more selective in who I've picked up.
34:38 Well I am not going very far,
34:40 you know, it doesn't make sense to pick them up,
34:41 or that guy doesn't look like he's had a bath in a while
34:44 and this upholstery is still clean.
34:49 And then I got to where I have been in a hurry
34:50 and I would say well, I don' t have time to pick him up
34:52 but I'll pray for him as I go by.
34:55 "Lord, please give him a ride".
34:58 So like James said, you pray be warmed and filled
35:01 and you don't do anything practical for their needs,
35:04 so maybe the Levite stopped and he prayed and said,
35:06 look I've got your license,
35:07 I'll call 888 when I get to Jericho
35:10 but he didn't do anything.
35:13 Now after two of the most prominent church members
35:16 go by this man and they don't help.
35:19 Put yourself in his shoes for a minute?
35:22 He's laying there, struggling to breathe, broken ribs,
35:26 one eye swollen shut, maybe broken bones,
35:29 they beat him half to death, half dead,
35:31 that describes the sinner.
35:34 We have fallen among thieves, we have been stripped,
35:37 we've gonna robbed, we'r half dead
35:38 and we're dying.
35:40 We're under a death sentence.
35:42 He's laying there, probably praying
35:46 and then he sees the pastor come by
35:48 and he thinks praise the Lord and he keeps going.
35:54 And then he's dehydrated, his lips are parched,
35:57 he sees the birds are just starting to circle
36:01 and then the Levite comes by.
36:03 Oh, praise the Lord and he stops,
36:05 ha, come on and he keeps going,
36:08 See he offer him a prayer, but he keeps going.
36:13 Then it says a certain Samaritan,
36:15 now I've got to stop you,
36:16 you have to understand this.
36:20 It's an understatement to say that Samaritans
36:23 and Jews did not like each other.
36:27 Think Palestinian and Israelite and that's still doesn't cover.
36:32 If you were a religious Jew and you lost your temper,
36:36 you wanted to curse someone out,
36:37 you would say, you publican,
36:41 you demon-possessed Samaritan,
36:44 and then people would go ooh,
36:46 he told it, that's the one of the worst things you could do.
36:49 It was so bad in the time of Christ
36:52 that the religious leaders had a law
36:54 that if the shadow of a Samaritan fell on you,
36:57 you're unclean.
36:58 That's why, the apostles, they said to Jesus,
37:03 when they were going through Sychar, they said,
37:05 "you stay here by the well,
37:06 we've got to go through the Samaritan town
37:08 and we've got to buy some food,
37:09 but we don't want you to risk contamination."
37:12 And they come back, and he's talking
37:14 to a Samaritan women no less.
37:17 Her shadow well over him.
37:20 I can see it now in some Samaritan village
37:22 when the Jews went shopping about 5:00 in the afternoon,
37:24 they probably had a good time,
37:25 huh, huh, get to shadow.
37:28 And the Jews are trying to stay clean.
37:30 They're hating each other
37:32 and they would never miss an opportunity
37:35 to get even or to hurt someone.
37:39 Constant terrorism going on
37:40 between the Samaritans and the Jews.
37:42 And then it says here in the story,
37:47 but a certain Samaritan as he journey came to where he was.
37:50 Now can you picture this?
37:53 That man's laying there buzzards are closing their circle,
37:56 he's drifting in and out of consciousness.
37:59 The head elder and the pastor have gone by
38:01 and he's praying.
38:02 And around the bend comes
38:04 a Samaritan with his donkey,
38:06 no witnesses and this Samaritan stops.
38:11 He probably looks to the right, left wondering
38:12 where the thieves are and this wounded man thinks
38:14 he was wondering will there be any witnesses,
38:17 I'm gonna finish him off.
38:19 And he thinks this is not good
38:22 and as the Samaritan comes up to the man,
38:24 he's probably trying to crawl away with all those strength
38:26 he's got left, groaning, but listen to what it says,
38:30 he doesn't hurt him.
38:33 It says when he saw him, he had compassion on him.
38:40 You know what compassion is?
38:43 It's combined with the word pathos,
38:46 feeling for empathy, sympathy.
38:52 Compassion is not the same as pity.
38:54 When the Levite stopped and offered a prayer that was pity.
38:58 Compassion is different.
39:00 I like to use the illustration, it's true story.
39:03 There was an accident in San Francisco
39:06 where a trolley car pinned a pedestrian.
39:10 And all these crowd of rubberneckers
39:12 stopped to look and this man was caught
39:15 underneath the chassis, greasy street car
39:19 and he was bleeding and he was injured.
39:22 Then some people leaned over
39:23 and looked underneath and said
39:24 we called for the emergency vehicles, help is on the way.
39:28 Some even got down on their hands and knees
39:31 and they looked at the man, keep an eye on him.
39:33 He's there trembling, one man in a business suit
39:37 got down on his belly and did the combat crawl,
39:40 went underneath the greasy chassis of this truck,
39:43 got right up to the man's ear, put his hand on him
39:47 and said in his ear, I'm gonna stay here with you,
39:50 you're going to be okay and someone illustrated
39:53 this is the difference between pity and compassion.
39:57 Pity looks down, compassion gets down.
40:02 I'm so thankful that Jesus did not just look down
40:05 at our world that was lost but He got down,
40:07 He became one of us to save us.
40:09 The Bible says He went to him, light shown in the prison,
40:13 God comes to us in our lost condition.
40:16 He does not wait for us to save ourselves,
40:18 He comes to us when we're helpless.
40:21 He went to him.
40:24 And He goes on to say,
40:27 he bandaged his wounds,
40:30 pouring on oil and wine
40:33 and he set him on his own animal.
40:35 I want to pause. Those are all symbols.
40:37 First of all you know who the thief is.
40:40 Who's the thief in the story?
40:42 Say, who is the man that fell among thieves?
40:47 Me? You?
40:51 Have you been beat up by the devil?
40:52 Has he wounded you? Have you fallen?
40:57 You know the Bible says
40:58 he's able to keep you from fallen,
41:00 but we've all fallen.
41:02 Has he stripped you of your dignity, your righteousness?
41:06 All of us are like filthy rags, left half dead,
41:09 we're under a death sentence.
41:12 And then who is the good Samaritan, that's Jesus.
41:16 See, Samaritans were hated by the Jews
41:18 because they were part Jewish.
41:20 They embrace some of the Jewish religion
41:22 and then they had some relation,
41:23 some of the blood of the ten tribes
41:25 mingled with the Syrian blood,
41:27 they were sort of half breeds.
41:30 And you know, that's what Jesus is.
41:32 Except Jesus isn't 50-50,
41:33 Jesus is a 100 percent God and 100 percent man.
41:36 I can't comprehend it friends,
41:38 but that's what the Bible teaches.
41:41 And He says now, he bandages his wounds,
41:43 you think he had a first aid box on his donkey,
41:46 you know, what I think he did,
41:48 He took His own clothing and He ripped into strips,
41:51 a symbol of the righteousness of Christ.
41:55 He poured him the wine,
41:57 a symbol of the blood of the covenant,
41:59 and the oil, symbol of the Holy Spirit.
42:04 And the man then was too weak to propel himself,
42:07 so He puts Him on his own beast,
42:09 the beast in the Bible is the symbol of strength,
42:11 through the strength of the ox,
42:13 there is much in grace.
42:16 And then He takes him to the inn.
42:18 What do you think the inn would represent?
42:22 It's a church.
42:23 After the Lord saves people, He takes them to the inn.
42:26 Inns, back then were not chains and franchise,
42:28 they were mom and pop organizations.
42:31 They were cottage industries.
42:33 Suppose to be like a family, takes him to the inn.
42:36 He personally cares for him, He gets him stabilized
42:41 and then He commits the care of this man
42:44 to the innkeeper and his family.
42:47 You know, Jesus discipled us in how to reach others
42:51 and He said As the Father sent me, so send thy you.
42:54 Now I've given you out an example,
42:55 I've got you started, I'm going,
42:57 I'll send the Holy Spirit, you take care of him.
43:00 This is the whole story of the Gospel here, amen. Amen.
43:03 And then you know what He says to the innkeeper.
43:07 No, I don't want to tell you that yet.
43:09 I want to focus on this point.
43:16 Matthew Chapter 25, you don't have to turn,
43:20 trust me it's there.
43:24 In the great judgment day, Jesus said He separates,
43:29 the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats
43:32 and He declares to the save the sheep,
43:34 I was hungry and You fed me,
43:36 I was thirsty, You gave me drink,
43:39 I was naked and You clothe me,
43:41 I was a stranger and You took me in,
43:43 I was sick or in prison and You came to me
43:46 and they'll say Lord,
43:47 when did we see You in this conditions.
43:49 He says as much as you did it
43:50 to one of the least of these you did it to Me.
43:54 You notice, he doesn't say enter into the joy of the Lord,
43:57 because you kept all my commandments.
44:00 How do they show they're keeping His commandments,
44:01 by the loving their fellowmen.
44:04 Then he declares to the lost.
44:06 I was hungry, you didn't feed me,
44:07 I was thirsty, you didn't give me drink,
44:09 I was naked or stranger or in prison or sick
44:12 and you did not minister on to me
44:14 and they'll say Lord, when.
44:15 He said and as much as you did not do it
44:17 to the least of these my brethren,
44:18 you did not do it me.
44:20 Depart in everlasting fire,
44:22 prepared for the devils and his angels.
44:25 We're going to be judged by how we love each other.
44:27 Now look at these six conditions that are described,
44:30 I was hungry, not only should Christians feed the hungry,
44:33 yeah, that means one-o-one, do we not know that?
44:36 But I gave you the bread of life.
44:39 I was thirsty, now like I should be kept
44:42 water to the thirsty,
44:43 that's so basic even the Pagans do that.
44:46 But we give them the living water.
44:49 I was naked and you gave me his robe of righteousness.
44:53 I was alienated from God,
44:55 I was a stranger and you made atonement,
44:57 you brought me to Him.
44:59 I was in prison by sin and you liberated me
45:02 through the Gospel that unlocks out chains.
45:05 I was sick, sin is described as a sickness
45:08 from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot
45:10 we're full of wounds and bruises
45:12 and putrefying sores, it's nauseating,
45:15 it's a sickness and we got the balm of Gilead, amen.
45:20 This is describing the ministry of the church
45:22 but it's more than that.
45:24 Those six conditions there
45:26 described the suffering of Jesus.
45:29 When Christ was on the cross,
45:31 he took all the suffering of humanity.
45:33 Was He hungry? Hadn't eaten in 24 hours.
45:37 Most of us don't go that long, do we?
45:40 Was He thirsty? He said He was.
45:44 Was he sick?
45:46 See how you feel after crucifixion
45:48 and being whipped with a cat of nine-tails 39 times twice,
45:53 beaten by soldiers.
45:56 Was He a stranger?
45:58 He came on to His own and they didn't know.
46:03 Was He in prison?
46:05 Can you imagine more perfect example of being in prison
46:08 and being suspended between heaven and earth
46:11 and nailed by your feet and your hands?
46:14 When Jesus was hanging on the cross,
46:16 He embraced all the suffering of humanity.
46:19 And He said as much as you have done it on to one
46:21 of the least of these, you have done it to me.
46:22 Think about this for a second. I'm almost done.
46:30 God is omnipresent, God is omnipotent,
46:35 God is all knowing omniscient.
46:37 I would like to add one sub category if you will allow me.
46:40 God is omnipathic, because God knows everything,
46:47 He feels everything.
46:49 Now another government tells us
46:50 that they feel our pain, right.
46:53 I have serious doubts about that.
46:57 But if God knows everything.
47:00 Does he know everything, everything?
47:03 Is there anything He doesn't know?
47:04 Is He aware of every tingling of every nerve,
47:08 fiber on the end of every hair on your body?
47:11 Does He feel when the sparrows are hungry?
47:14 He feels when the dog wags its tail
47:16 because you pet his head.
47:18 God feels everything.
47:20 How much pain do you think
47:21 the Lord is feeling now coming from this planet?
47:25 You and I can't comprehend it.
47:26 It just gives us brain meltdown.
47:29 How much God must be hurting?
47:31 He loves us so much
47:32 and there's so much suffering in this planet.
47:35 When Jesus said, "As the Father has sent me,
47:37 so send I you" He has sent us out there to do everything
47:40 we can by relieving the physical suffering
47:42 of humanity by giving them the bread of life
47:45 and the living water and the balm of Gilead
47:46 and all those things that I've mentioned.
47:48 But He's also sent us out
47:50 to relieve the spiritual suffering,
47:52 physical and spiritual.
47:54 And whenever you do any good thing for anybody
47:58 and they feel better because you speak
48:00 a word of encouragement, because you smile at them,
48:02 because you take care of their practical needs,
48:04 because you help them with their spiritual needs.
48:06 Jesus said, as much as you've done it for them,
48:08 you've done it for me, because He feels the relief.
48:13 When you give water to a thirsty dog
48:16 and that dog is relieved.
48:17 Does the Lord feel that?
48:19 He's aware of every sensation in the cosmos.
48:21 This isn't pantheism friends
48:22 this is Biblical Christian theology.
48:25 You got that?
48:27 This is very clear, God knows everything.
48:29 Anything you and I do,
48:30 I used to think it's a metaphor
48:32 as much as you have done it for them
48:33 the least of these you've done if for me, that's nice.
48:35 It's not just a metaphor, it's true.
48:39 How many opportunities have we passed up
48:41 to make God feel better?
48:44 In our discouraged and suffering brothers and sisters
48:48 and even the creatures.
48:51 What a privilege, what an, wonderful privilege we have
48:55 to be followers of good and blessing in the world.
48:57 That's what He's called every Christian
48:59 to be and the more you're willing to give
49:01 of the goodness of God to others,
49:02 the Lord will give you to give.
49:05 He wants us to be conduits of blessing to the world.
49:09 Well, this Samaritan understood
49:10 that and he took care of this man's needs,
49:14 now think about it.
49:17 It was at his expense,
49:19 this man who was not even his friend,
49:21 his enemy, he loved him.
49:22 God loves us while we were yet sinners,
49:24 He died for us.
49:28 It was his wine, Jesus blood,
49:33 the Holy Spirit, the oil, his clothing,
49:36 he put him on his beast, he traded places,
49:37 he says I want you ride.
49:39 This is the Gospel, friends.
49:40 The Lord is saying, I'll trade places with you.
49:44 He goes to the end, He says I'll sleep on the floor,
49:46 you take the bed, you're sick.
49:48 He even pays out of His pocket
49:50 and then He tells the innkeeper,
49:53 I'm coming back.
49:56 Whatever you spend before I come back,
49:58 I'll repay you.
50:00 Do you hear the echoes of Jesus in that statement?
50:03 Amen. I'm coming back.
50:04 As the father sent me, so send I you,
50:07 the world's been beat up by the devil.
50:10 It might cost us something to take care of Him
50:12 until He comes back but He says He'll pay us, amen.
50:15 We'll have our reward.
50:17 This is the story of Gospel.
50:20 Some of you, everybody here fits in this story somewhere.
50:25 Some of us have been walking by those who're suffering.
50:29 Some of us have been beat up by the devil
50:33 and we're still on the ground half dead.
50:37 Some of us are doing
50:38 the ministry of a good Samaritan.
50:40 We're trying to be fountains of blessing
50:42 to all that we meet that are hurting.
50:46 And I like to begin by making very specific appeal.
50:50 We don't have any music or fanfare here,
50:52 but I think it's appropriate.
50:56 Some of you heard the truth in what I said
50:59 this morning, afternoon,
51:03 and you feel like you've been beat up
51:04 and stripped and robbed by the enemy
51:08 and you'd like to be restored,
51:10 you'd like to accept the wine of Christ blood
51:14 to heal your wounds, his robe of righteousness,
51:17 you'd like to have the Holy Spirit anoint you.
51:22 If there are some here who either have not surrendered
51:25 their lives to Jesus or maybe you did once
51:28 and you slipped away
51:30 and you like to return right now.
51:32 I'd like to invite you to stand.
51:34 We wanna have special prayer for you.
51:36 Don't worry about what anyone here might stand
51:38 or remain standing, you might think,
51:39 this is between you and God, amen.
51:42 We're all in this thing together.
51:43 Praise the Lord for these decisions.
51:45 There're some others,
51:46 you feel a struggle in your heart right now,
51:48 I always call people publicly,
51:50 Jesus died for you publicly, don't be ashamed.
51:56 You're feeling the struggle going on in your heart,
51:58 the Lord's asking you to return,
52:00 or come for the first time,
52:01 that's a battle between your devil and your Savior
52:05 and you have the tie breaking vote.
52:08 Vote for life. Come to Him now.
52:12 Some of you maybe even raised in the church
52:14 and you know you're not living for God.
52:17 You're still beat up by the enemy
52:20 and you'd like to instead of being down on the ground,
52:23 you'd like to be doing the work of the good Samaritan.
52:27 Come to Him now. Say, Lord here I am.
52:31 Are there others, I am just going
52:32 to extend this a moment longer.
52:33 Praise the Lord for these decisions.
52:36 Now I'd like to open it up,
52:38 those of us who'd like to do a better job
52:41 are being channels of blessing to this world that is hurting.
52:47 Let's ask God for His help.
52:55 Father in heaven, we thank You
52:59 for the message of Jesus in this parable,
53:02 that helps to encapsulate.
53:05 First of all, who is our neighbor?
53:07 Anybody who is hurting and helps us to see
53:11 what the plan of devil is, to humiliate,
53:14 to strip us of our dignity, our righteousness,
53:18 to take our lives, to rob us.
53:22 And then Lord we see the plan of Jesus to restore us,
53:25 to heal us, to tenderly care,
53:27 the compassion and love of the Lord
53:29 that He comes to us where we are.
53:31 Lord we're all in this story somewhere.
53:34 I pray You help us to identify
53:36 where we are and help us by your grace
53:40 to position ourselves as ministers of Christ.
53:45 Everyone of us to be sharing with the word
53:48 that's hurting not passing them by.
53:51 Lord, heal those that are beat up,
53:53 forgive those who've been indifferent.
53:57 And I pray Lord that You'd empower our churches
53:59 that we can be an inn that will care for the hurting
54:02 that replace within our hands.
54:05 Pour out Your Spirit on this camp meeting.
54:07 I pray that you will help us
54:09 to be aware of Christ presence
54:11 on the ground through these holy hours.
54:14 In His name we ask, amen.


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Revised 2014-12-17